Notes and Editorial Reviews

This luxurious set containing 39 CDs, 3 DVDs, 1 CD-ROM, and four detailed booklets will tell you the full story of Baroque opera in Italy, France, England, and Germany. No fewer than 17 complete operas (including two on DVD) and two supplementary CDs (The Dawn of Opera and Overtures for the Hamburg Opera) provide the most comprehensive overview of the genre ever attempted! The finest performers are assembled here under the direction of René Jacobs and William Christie to offer you 47 hours of music and an opportunity to discover or to hear again the masterpieces of Baroque opera, some of which have been unavailable on CD for many years. Full texts and translations are included as PDFs on a supplementary CD.

L'Orfeo
"It is clear right from the start, with the almost aggressive snarling brass and thudding drums of the opening Toccata, that Rene Jacobs's reading of L'Orfeo is a full-blooded one. The tone is set almost immediately by Efrat Ben-Nun, whose approach to the two roles that she sings is refreshingly direct and dramatic... In Laurence Dale, Jacobs has found a powerful protagonist, a singer capable of negotiating the sudden changes of emotional state that characterize the part at some at its most critical moments with conviction. More to the point, "Possente spirto" itself, the spiritual and literal centre of the opera, is something of a tour de force, conveying the central conception of the power of song with true rhetorical understanding. This is a version of L'Orfeo to be reckoned with." -- Gramophone [12/1995]
reviewing HM 901553

L'Incoronazione di Poppea
"Jacobs has for long specialized in baroque music and has previously been involved with a number of recordings of other early Venetian operas. It is this experience which leads him to believe that while the original manuscripts contain the 'essential' features of the work, they must be augmented in two ways; firstly, by extending the use of the central string ensemble beyond ritornellos and sinfonias, and secondly by adding three-part melodic elaborations (accompagnati) at strategic moments. In practice this places his version somewhere between the absolute purity of the Hickox (where the vocal lines are supported throughout only by a basso continuo) and Zedda's colourful fantasia upon the composer's original score... Right from the start Danielle Borst's Poppea is richly seductive, and the part of Nerone is given a wildly impetuous reading by Guillemette Laurens; by the fifth scene of Act I these principal characters have been graphically delineated, the oppositions set up and the seeds of tragedy sown in a highly convincing way." -- Gramophone [4/1991]
reviewing HM 901330

Calisto
"When this was first released in 1995, I thought it was the finest recording of a Baroque opera I'd ever heard. Since then there have been many others as good, but this one remains positively superb, making the case for an otherwise unknown work, bringing to the fore all of its colors, wit, bawdiness, and complications... [Maria Bayo's] pure, vibrato-free sound is right on the money and she gets inside the innocent but seducible character with great ingenuity... René Jacobs and his band turn this into a great, sharp drama, beautiful to listen to and endlessly appealing. Don't miss it--it's a great work and this is a great performance." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 2901515

Griselda
"Jacobs' cast is ideal. Dorothea Röschmann's Griselda is always noble, purposefully belying this character's humble origins... Lawrence Zazzo walks a tightrope as Gualtiero: On one hand he must seem shallow, conniving, cynical, cruel, and insensitive; but in his asides--of which there are many--he must convince us of his inherent goodness, and he does. His countertenor is an unusually firm instrument and he uses it remarkably... Mezzo Bernarda Fink (where would Baroque opera be without her?) excels in the more one-dimensional trouser role of Roberto... this is as great a performance of it as we're bound to hear." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 901805

Dido and Aeneas
"My preference for a strong yet sympathetically portrayed Dido, a dynamic yet sensitive Belinda, a full-bodied period-instrument orchestra, and an articulate, intuitive, sensitive partnership between singers and continuo--all managed with judiciously paced direction that lets the singers sing and never becomes ponderous--is almost perfectly realized in René Jacobs' new reading with Lynne Dawson and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Dawson's soprano has an endearing plaintive quality, especially in her fateful Act 3 music, and her Belinda, Rosemary Joshua, is a solid and supportive companion. This orchestra shows not only the kind of crispness and clarity of line and attack we expect from the better period instrument orchestras, but also a full, multi-colored sound that adds even more than usual luster to the score." -- David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 901683

Rinaldo
"If it's drama you're looking for, René Jacobs is your man. Attacks are almost vicious, the period instruments are thumped and wheedled and scratched when needed for emphasis. Extraneous noises--distant drums, wind, clatter, and those birds--abound, and the singers sing for dear life... Vivica Genaux is a vivid, involved hero, singing with great evenness, impressive tenderness in the yearning arias, and no fear of Handel's fiercer music..." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 901796

Flavio
"[Jeffrey Gall] captures just the right edge of petulance for the character, while the more leading countertenor role, Guido (the Senesino part), is sung by Derek Lee Ragin, whose somewhat fiercer tone is fascinating and whose flexibility is remarkable... René Jacobs leads Ensemble 415 in a performance that equally captures the score's lightness and gravity without ever throwing the balance off. That is, he makes sense of the complications. In a word, this is wonderful." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 2901312

Giulio Cesare
"[Jennifer Larmore's] voice is as solid as a rock, her coloratura is staggering in its accuracy, and the dark, masculine sound she effects for the role is uncannily right. She can be aggressive, she can be love-smitten. In the accompanied recitative when she contemplates Pompey's ashes, her depth of feeling is palpable, her soul troubled. It's a great performance. The smaller roles are equally well-taken, with Derek Lee Ragin's effete-yet-dangerous Ptolomy particularly striking. In short, while Beverly Sills' Cleopatra is an unequalled treasure, Jacobs' cast and interpretive outlook turn the opera into the drama it should be, and no one who cares about Baroque opera should do without this set." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 901385

Cesare e Cleopatra
"Iris Vermillion is spectacular, and elsewhere in the opera she's as heroic, romantic, and colorful as our hero ought to be... René Jacobs clearly believes in this music and his Concerto Köln plays splendidly, embellishing the instrumental lines with vigor. If this opera lacks the probing of Handel's, so what? It's a joy to hear, and this performance is excellent." -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 2901561

Croesus
"The performance is the thing, and whatever this is, it's goregously performed and gripping from the first to the last second of its entire three-hour span. Roman Trekel's Croesus is believable without being dislikeable, and his bickering with Kwangchul Youn as Solon is vivid. Once Werner Güra as Atis begins to sing you wish he'd been able in Act 1; his is a wonderful tenor, with plenty of spice and technique to spare. The same might be said of Dorothea Röschmann's Elmira--the character is invariably in some sort of ferocious mood and Röschmann is spectacular. The rest of the soloists are just as good, and the comic characters add zest. This is one-of-a-kind but more than a rarity: It's a great work, ideally performed. One Grammy coming up!" -- Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com
reviewing HM 901714

Venus and Adonis
"Rene Jacobs surrounds himself with many fine singers here, all of whom he marshals in lively and responsive performances. Rosemary Joshua is an irresistible Venus, who wastes not a word either in colourful representation or vocal suppleness, and Gerald Finlay’s reflective longing accords with Jacobs’s elegant and full-flavoured direction." -- Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Gramophone
reviewing HM 901684Read less

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: ( 3 Customer Reviews )

Some big winners hereOctober 24, 2013By Donald Bauder (Salida, CO)See All My Reviews"We are fans of Handel operas, having at least 20 on CD, and have some others by Alessandro Scarlatti, Monteverdi, etc. So we gave this a try. It is wonderful, including operas by composers we had never heard of -- Campra and Keiser. We haven't watched the DVDs yet. Don Bauder"Report Abuse

Opera BaroqueOctober 22, 2013By R. J. Wesley (Baltimore, MD)See All My Reviews"Given as a gift to my favorite early music young artist. Therefore did not listen to it."Report Abuse

Stunned by the Glory of Opera BaroqueSeptember 29, 2013By Daniel B. (Lilydale, MN)See All My Reviews"Opera Baroque is the best boxed set I have ever purchased. I award it an unqualified 5 stars for the excellence of the packaging and the wonder of the performances. There are 17 complete operas representing composers of Italy (4), France (5), England (5) and Germany (3). Also, there is an introductory cd for each country with non-operatic music setting the musical stage, and a booklet with brief but insightful essays on each opera and its composer. Finally, there is CD-ROM with the libretto of every opera! Too often boxed sets include no translations, which I consider vital to the full appreciation of opera. Inevitably, like me, you will probably have several of these works; I have 6, but they are different recordings, and I am enjoying hearing alternative performances of L'Orfeo, La Callisto, Atys, etc. Besides, this set is a wonderful library of baroque splendors, with an admirable integrity of performances and presentation. I am extremely proud of this acquisition. So will you!"Report Abuse